HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KTHV) -- After last year's cancelations from ice storms, Oaklawn is hoping for a smoother, warmer and bigger start to this season.

Presale tickets for this year's Arkansas Derby are nearly sold out, but more tickets will be released on Derby Day.

Oaklawn plans to play off this fresh hype and offer some new things opening weekend. "Something this massive, he weighs 1,286 pounds and can run about 40 something miles per hour. He's that strong, but he's this cool," said Ron Moquett, a trainer, who has several horses at Oaklawn, including 'Right To Vote,' "He's usually popular in an election year."

Moquett is excited for this season, and a chance for his horses to run well.

"We all believe we have a derby horse, so fans get to come out and grab ahold of a horse and follow it all the way through," said Moquett.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KTHV) - The Hot Springs Police Department discovered a body just north of the shopping center located at 1540 Malvern Avenue Thursday morning.

Hot Springs police released a report stating that at approximately 8:51 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, they responded to the 1500 block of Malvern Avenue to investigate a report of a deceased person being located. When they arrived to the scene, they did find a body, but it was badly decomposed. Police were able to identify the body as a male, but were unable to determine the identity. The cause of death has yet to be released.

The body has been transported to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an autopsy. Stay with THV11 and THV11.com for more updates.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KTHV) -- The skinny white brick building at Central Avenue and Bridge Street is a familiar sight to millions of Hot Springs visitors, but for 40 years, the old First Federal building on the route of the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade has been gradually decaying.

"It was actually the city's first skyscraper," said Cole McCaskill, the Downtown Development Director for the Hot Springs Metro Partnership. "Rumor has it the original contractor went bankrupt mainly because he spared no expense."

Being solidly built using now impossible to find Tiffany brick may be why this seven-story structure doesn't look more rundown, despite being vacant since 1978 when First Federal Mutual and later Citizens Bank cleared out.